Rejoicing with Jealousy

I was reminded recently of how difficult it is to be happy for someone when they achieve something you strongly desire. After my second miscarriage, my sister fell pregnant, leaving me in an awkward emotional journey of wanting to rejoice with her, but being consumed with anger at the unfairness of it and being so jealous of her.  Fortunately, I only had to endure 2 months of my ashamed fakeness with my sister, before I myself fell pregnant again and we were able to rejoice together! 

I have since learnt that being able to rejoice for another persons good-fortune, while you are dreaming or have lost your own, is a sign of great character maturity, that takes some years to learn.

As an aspiring writer, I often encounter authors who have successfully become published, and find it hard to understand why they are often so tight-lipped about sharing their secrets or contacts. If I ever become published, I aim to go out of my way to help others achieve success, for I will have walked in their shoes and will have experienced their journey of repeated rejections. Sometimes experiencing things from both perspectives allows us the capacity to empathise, and it is only in having gone through it ourselves that we will fully know and understand the level of excitement. I believe God brings certain people along our path to either help them or for them to help us, and recognising the role is crucial.

So next time you encounter someone you are intensely jealous of, be honest about your feelings with them and as hard as it is, force yourself to share in their joy, even if it does feel fake.  Focus your jealousy on learning from them. 

And for those who may be in the position to gloat, be sensitive to others whose emotions are raw and tender. 

I believe that when we learn the lesson of rejoicing with others in our jealousy, we will learn the valuable lesson that when we put another person's happiness above our own, we end up attracting our own heart's desires!